Semi-Retirement Made Earlier and Easier

Expenditure Update: July 15

July’s expenses spiked up slightly and came in at close to $4,000. Even though the fixed expenses have been recently updated and lowered. The main culprit was the new iPhone 6 the Mrs bought. Even though we upgraded her mobile plan and will likely pay an extra $20 despite a 35% discount, we still had to pay an extra $470 for the phone.

But well, we managed to offset it by re-contracting another line and selling the phone for a $600 profit. It’s not reflected below since I have always maintained a policy of not incorporating incomes in our updates.

August’s expenses will be interesting as I revert back to my sabbatical status and I will also be conducting an interesting experiment with the Mrs. Stay tuned. 😛

August’s Challenge: Exercise every single day

Yes, even a minute of planking would count. So there’s really no excuses not to do it. Especially since there’s no 8 to 5 every weekday any more that sucks up most of my time and more importantly, energy.

Details of our July expenses are shown below:

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Eating Out: $767.80

Hawker ($221.80) – Quite a few Cai Peng entries and surprisingly, lots of fish soup too. I enjoyed the fare from the stall along Upper Serangoon Road near Kovan MRT. Also frequented the beef noodles stall in one of the coffee houses in Kovan. Lunchtime haunts.

Fast Food ($46.80) – Only 4 entries with the usual few Mac meals here and there. The main bulk of the expenses came from a meal @Popeyes with the Mrs’ cousin and nephews.

Restaurants ($499.20) – We really enjoyed ourselves on this front with about 14 entries here. And there’s quite a variety as we had first experiences at Ma Maison and Saboten. Dining out at restaurants is officially one of our indulgences/weakness (depending on how you look at it).

Groceries: $87.40

Supermarket ($27.40) – My mother-in-law works very near a hypermart and she would often help us buy some fruits and vegetables on her way back from work. Therefore, this category has been unexpectedly low for a few months.

Market ($60) – We had a family gathering over a barbeque recently and the Mrs went to the Kovan wet market to get some fresh and succulent seafood. Prawns and squids aren’t cheap these days.

Beverages & Snacks: $136.50

Beverages ($14.10) – A $4 100 plus when we caught the Arsenal vs Everton match (complimentary tickets) and a cup of KOI in addition to the usual few cups of sugar cane at hawkers and lemon tea in school.

Electricity, Gas & Water ($114.49) – Electricity usage spiked to 353kWh as the hot weather finally took a toil on our utility bills. Switching on the air conditioner at night for at least a few hours was pretty necessary to ensure a good night’s rest. We also used about 34kWh of gas and 8.1Cu M too, a significant increase compared to previous months.

Cellphones ($60.03) – $28.03 for the Mrs’ plan and $32 for mine.

Transport: $162

2 EZ Reload transaction for me and another 1 for the Mrs. And I finally woke up late for school during one fine day and took a cab to school. Barely made it in time as the cab was just 5-10 minutes faster than train & bus.

Departmental: $684.90

Clothing ($123.90) – A few days ago, during the last day of the month, the Mrs bought a pair of shoes and two dresses. She justified it as she’s about to start work again! I bought some extra pillow covers and underwear for myself.

Books ($21) – Some assessment books for new students that I just took in. I never charge my students extra for any materials I buy or print.

Electronics ($540) – $470 for the Mrs’ new 64GB iPhone 6 after we upgraded her plan. This is another of our luxuries as both of us generally carry the best phones around. Just that we have a strategy to use it for as long as possible. Another $70 was spent replacing the batteries of two watches (will be writing a post soon on this experience).

Miscellaneous: $140

Movies ($15) – School ended early one day and I caught Ant Man with one of my buddies after work

Others ($125) – Bought some Bengawan chiffon cakes to add on to the brownies the Mrs baked during my last day at work. One of my closest friends also ROMed and a considerable ang bao was the least I could do.